'Hamilton' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda urges people to vote

"Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is urging people to register to vote.
(The Associated Press)

Not going to vote this election? Lin-Manuel Miranda says "No" to this.

The creator of the Broadway musical, "Hamilton" wants people to get out and vote, and for good reason.

"I think a lot of people fought and died for the right to vote, and so I think our country is healthy when we turn out in large numbers," Miranda said on the red carpet at the New York Film Festival on Saturday.

Miranda doesn't accept the premise that some people will abstain from voting because they can't connect with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

"Even if you don't agree with me on who to vote for, I want you to vote. I want the majority of the country to pick the person who is in charge of it," Miranda said.

He made the comments at a screening for "Hamilton's America," Alex Horwitz's upcoming PBS documentary that chronicles the making of Miranda's Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical.

The musical has brought an understanding of policy and politics to a new generation with its unique telling of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton told through an inclusive cast using a hip-hop and R&B score.

Earlier in the day, actors from "Hamilton" were helping to register voters at the show's home, the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

The show's lead producer Jeffrey Seller spoke proudly of the civic responsibility his cast was taking.

"There is no expression of our democracy that is more important or more integral than voting, so how fitting is it that the 'Hamilton' cast encourages all folks to vote," Seller said.

Miranda feels the arts can play a big role when it comes to civic responsibility, yet his motivation didn't come from his father, Luis, who worked as a political adviser, it came from watching "The West Wing."

"It was a really good TV show that put a human face on what actually happens in the White House," Miranda said.

That inspired him, and he feels "Hamilton" can share that same magic."To see the origin story of our country, in musical theater form, inspires people to think about what our country should be, and so we're just kind of playing that out in 2016.

"While he could transform a story of a founding father into the hottest musical on the planet, Miranda isn't sure what he could have done with last week's presidential debate.

"I think that was the source for a lot of things. I don't know if a musical is the final form it will take, but it was certainly gripping live theater," Miranda said with a smile.